RPI-Congress pact to widen

on Wednesday that the modalities of the alliance between the Congress and RPI will be finalised at New Delhi on October 16 after discussions with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The RPI already has an alliance with the Congress in Maharastra which had successfully contested the Lok Sabha polls against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena combine. The Congress and RPI alliance had won 37 out of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharastra in the last elections. Athawale said that the RPI wants to extend the Maharastra experience in these three states.

The RPI general secretary said that preliminary round of talks with several Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singhand president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Ashok Gehlot are on.

Athawale said that his party will demand 20 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh and 15 seats in Rajasthan. In Delhi, the RPI will like to contest 10 to 15 seats, he added. He said that in Maharastra his party had contested four Lok Sabha seats and had won all of them.

Athawale also said that he will contest the organisational polls scheduled in December for the post of party president. He said that he will discuss the issue with Prakash Ambedkar, another aspirant for the post to resolve the internal divisions in the party. Athawale hoped that the issue will be settled amicably between the party leaders.

Organisational polls in the RPI will begin on November 7 and continue till December 26. The national convention of the party will be held on December 27.